Product and Process Design

Product and service

➢ Product: Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition,
use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need
➢ Service: Any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that is
essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership in anything

1-2
Product & service development
➢Original products-New brands that the firm develops through its own research
and development efforts
➢Product improvements
➢Product modifications
Sources of Information for New Product Development

Internal sources External Sources

➢ R & D department ➢ Competitors
➢ Marketing Personnel ➢ Foreign Products
➢ Production department ➢ Consultants
➢ Suppliers
➢ Customers
The product development team: Cross functional team

Marketing
Marketing Research
Technology & Quality Sales
Scientists (Where applicable)
Engineers
Operations Managers
Manufacturing
Operations
Logistics
Procurement
Legal Affairs Supply Chain
Regulatory Compliance Quality Control
Cross functional product design
➢ Traditionally, individual functional areas (engineering, operations, marketing)
operate without consulting each other
➢ This is the sequential or ‘over the wall’ approach

➢ This traditional approach often results in misalignment.

3-6
Misalignment due to lack of cross functional team
 Cross-functional team output

Cross-functional approach requires the

various functional areas to cooperate
and work together in the same time
frame.
New product development process

Idea Generation
and Screening
Commercial
Launch & Concept
Product use development
and support

Testing,
Product Feasibility
evaluation and Analysis
improvement

Advance &
Production
Detailed
process design
engineering
and system
design
How does a new product get created?: Idea generation
 Concept development
➢ Concept development is the process of evaluating your customers'
reactions to your product or service before your product development
➢ It is a structured way to develop an idea, see if customers like your idea, and
determine what customer market is willing to buy it
Concept development
➢ After exposing the concept to the group of target consumers, they will be
asked to answer questions in order to find out the consumer appeal and
customer value of each concept
➢ Suppose Wai Wai wants to expand its line of noodle products. The managers
conduct surveys from customers to determine which noodle items (flavor)
would appeal to customers from various flavor alternatives
Feasibility analysis
➢ Market Feasibility
➢ Future sales in terms of volume and value
➢ Future market share in terms of volume and value
➢ Financial Feasibility
➢ Future income statement
➢ Payback period
➢ ARR and IRR
➢ Production and Operation Feasibility
➢ Manufacturability
➢ Efficiency in operations
Advance and detailed engineering design
Advance & detailed engineering design

➢ Advance design is related to developing the prototype or dummy products

giving more focus on aesthetic looks, shapes, size color of the product etc.
➢ Detailed engineering design is related with preparing the detailed sketches of
each components to be used in developing the product.
➢ To transform the idea into reality, a specification about the product is
prepared.
➢ It must support product manufacturability (the ease with which a product can
be made)
Features of a good advance and detailed engineering
design
➢ Functionality: The product must function properly for intended purpose.
➢ Reliability: The product must perform properly for the designated period of
time.
➢ Productivity: The product must be produced with a required quantity and
quality at a defined and feasible cost.
➢ Quality: The product must satisfy customer’s stated and unstated needs.
➢ Cost effectiveness: The product must be cost effective and must be
manufactured in the most cost effective environment.
Production and/or service process design

➢ The production process or service delivery process is designed and installed

Production process design and system
Service process design & system
Y

High
Degree of Labor

Low

O X
Low High

Degree of customer contact

Testing, product evaluation & improvement
➢ The last stage before commercialization in the new product development
process is test marketing
➢ The organizations produce goods in small quantities for pilot testing
purposes
➢ On the basis of feedback from the pilot testing, the improvements are carried
out
➢ The product and its proposed marketing programs are tested in realistic
market settings
➢ Gives marketer, the experience with marketing the product before going to
the great expense of full introduction
Commercial launch, product use & support
➢ The products are finally launched commercially
➢ The organizations provide the product use and support services to its
customers so that they can use the products optimally
➢ E.g., The micro wave companies provided the cooking classes of one week
for its customers as it was new in the Nepalese market
➢ The software companies also provide the tutorial classes for their clients
Quiz 1
Looking at the sales history of similar products and surveying market opinion are
tools used at which stage in the new-product development process?
A. Concept development and testing
B. commercialization
C. business analysis
D. marketing strategy development
Quiz 2
Suppose Nestle wants to expand its line of food products. The managers
conduct surveys from customers to determine which food items would appeal to
customers. Nestle is currently in which of the following phase of new product
development?
A. Idea generation
B. Idea screening
C. Concept development
D. Business analysis
Quiz 3
ABC has just brainstormed a large number of ideas for adding new products and
services after visiting several buying fairs. The owners will begin the first idea-
reducing stage, called ________, to arrive at a realistic number to adopt.
A. Idea generation
B. Concept development
C. Product concept
D. Idea screening
Issues of product design
➢ Concurrent Engineering
➢ QFD (Quality Function Deployment)
➢ Value Engineering
➢ Modular Design
➢ CAD (Computer Aided Design)
➢ CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing)
Concurrent engineering/cross functional product design

➢ New concept and very important issue in product design.

➢ Traditionally, individual functional areas (engineering, operations, marketing)
operate without consulting each other while designing the product or service.
➢ This resulted misalignment and the new product/service development time
was high and cost of product development was also high
➢ Concurrent approach requires the various functional areas to cooperate and
work together in the same time frame i.e. work with the concept of cross
functional team.
➢ This is all about concurrent engineering.

3-27
Misalignment due to lack of concurrent engineering
Quality Function Deployment
➢ Tool for concurrent design of products i.e. Used in cross functional teams
➢ Also known as “House of Quality”
➢ Developed in Japan in 1972
➢ Introduced in USA in the late 1980s
➢ Companies felt it increased customer satisfaction
➢ Helps in reducing the product development and product cost of the
organization
➢ E.g. Toyota was able to reduce the development cost by 60 % and
development time by 33 %.
Need to focus

QFD Target
QFD-definition
➢ A planning tool used to fulfill customer expectations
➢ A structured process for planning the design of a new product or service or
for redesigning an existing one.
➢ A tool used to translate customer requirements to engineering specifications
➢ It emphasizes thoroughly understanding what the customer wants or needs.
Then those customer wants are translated into characteristics of the product
or service.
Value analysis: Example

(a) The original design (b) Revised design (c) Final design

Assembly using One-piece base & Design for push-and-snap

common fasteners elimination of fasteners assembly
• Original Design • Revised Design • Final Design
• 24 different parts to • 4 different parts to • 2 parts to assemble
assemble assemble and manage
• 7 unique parts to • 3 unique parts to
manage in inventory manage in inventory
Value analysis/engineering

➢ Simplification of products and processes so manufacturing process can be

simplified
➢ Removing the non value adding elements from the product and/or activities
from the production and service process
➢ Modify the design of production process by using less no of components
simplify the production process and lower the cost of a product or service
while maintaining or improving quality.
➢ Enhance the design of a good or service to provide higher quality at the same
price, or the same quality at a lower price.
Objective of value analysis/engineering
Value analysis advantage
Value Analysis at Toyota during 2000 AD
➢ General Motors had 26 different seat frames.
➢ Toyota had 22.
➢ Toyota’s advantage: $25 million
Value Analysis at General Motors
➢ Vice President of Global Purchasing of GM discovered that door hinges
on large SUVs and trucks could be made from 3 parts instead of 5.
➢ Savings: $21 per truck or $ 5 million total.
➢ It still took him three months to convince the engineers to change.
Modular design

Alto Alto Lx Alto Lxi

No AC AC AC
No Central Lock No Central Lock Central Lock
No Power Steering No Power Steering Power Steering
Modular design
➢ Developing multiple products using common parts, processes, and modules
➢ Allows greater variety through ‘mixing and matching’ of modules
➢ Develops a series of basic product components (modules) for later
assembly into multiple products
➢ Reduces complexity and costs associated with large number of product
variations
➢ Can offer variety of products to different market segments
Advantages of modular design
➢ Facilitates product change and product variety
➢ modules can easily be upgraded, degraded, and added-on

➢ modules can easily be reused or replaced

➢ Modular products can be quickly reconfigured to meet changing market

requirements
➢ Improves economies of scale through component and module sharing across
products (economies of scope)
Computer Aided Design (CAD)
➢ Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or workstations) to
aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design.
➢ CAD software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve
the quality of design, improve communications through documentation, and
to create a database for manufacturing.
➢ CAD output is often in the form of electronic files for print, machining, or other
manufacturing operations.
➢ Shortens development cycles, improved accuracy, lower cost
➢ Solves manufacturing problems during the design stage
➢ 3-D Object Modeling
➢ Small prototype development
Computer Aided Design-example
Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM)
➢ CAM refers to the use of a specialized computers and program to assist in all
operations of a manufacturing plant, including planning, management,
transportation and storage.
➢ Its primary purpose is to create a faster production process and components
and tooling with more precise dimensions and material consistency and
minimizing waste as it helps in using only the required amount of raw
material.
➢ E.g. Google car, Robotic surgery, Robotic manufacturing
Process analysis and design
➢ A process is a series of independent tasks that transforms an input into
output material of higher value for the organization
➢ Process is any part of an organization which takes a set of input resources
which are then used to transform something into outputs of products or
services.
➢ A step by step how something is done or how to do something
➢ Every organization analyzes the various steps in the process design to
ultimately select the best process
Process analysis and design symbols: Derived from
Scientific management
When to use a flow chart
➢ To develop understanding of how a process is done and to document a
process
➢ To communicate to others how a process is done
➢ When better communication is needed between people involved with the
same process
➢ To document a process
➢ When planning a project
➢ To study a process for improvement (quality related improvement)
Process design: Functions
➢ Informative: It provides information about how something works
➢ Directive: It explains how to do something
Process design and product/service design are interrelated

➢ While designing the product or service, consideration must be given to how it

is to be produced i.e. production or service process.
➢ Design of product can constrain the design of production and service
process.
Process design and product/service design are interrelated

➢ The overlap is greater in the service industry:

➢ Service industry - It is impossible to separate service design and process
design – they are the same thing
➢ Manufacturing industry - It is possible to separate product design and
process design but it is beneficial to consider them together because the
design of products has a major effect on production process & productivity
Product and services design are interrelated to its process
design
Designing the
Designing the
Processes that
Product or
Produce the
Service
Product or
Service
Products and services Processes should be
should be designed in designed so they
such a way that they can create all
can be created products and
effectively services which the
operation is likely to
introduce

Decisions taken during the design of the product or service

will have an impact on the process that produces them and
vice versa
Difference between product and service design

Basis Product Design Service Design

Product design and production Service design and service process
Separable
process design are separable. design are not separable.

The efficiency of product design is The efficiency if service design is

Measure
measured in terms of output. measured in terms of experience.

The whole product design process The whole service design process
Repeatable can be repeated as it follows the can not be repeated as it follows
standardized procedures. the flexible procedures.

Product design can be patented for Service design can not be patented
Patent
certain period of time. and it can be easily copied.
Why do we need to analyze the process?

➢ To identify inefficient tasks

➢ To spot possible effectiveness improvement tasks
➢ To understand where value can be added
How can we analyze a process?
Map it!
Tools for analyzing/mapping process
➢ A number of tools help the managers to understand the complexities of
manufacturing and service process design and redesign for competitive
advantages.
➢ Flow charts/Process mapping

➢ Time Function Mapping

➢ Value Stream Mapping

➢ Service Blueprinting
Flow diagrams: Movement of materials and steps
Flow diagram of
burger order
taking process

The nodes indicate the

activities and the arrows
indicate the flow of
direction.
Flow diagrams: Movement of materials and steps
Flow diagrams: Movement of materials and steps
Flow diagram: Movement of steps
Time function mapping: Flow diagram + time frame
➢ Time function mapping is a process in a flow diagram with time taken in each
step
➢ This tool is also called process mapping
➢ Time Function Mapping shows time on the horizontal axis and the different
departments a process goes through on the vertical axis
➢ With time-function mapping, nodes indicate the activities and arrows indicate
the flow direction
Time function mapping: flow diagram + time frame
Order Receive
Customer product product

Process
Sales order

Production
control Wait

Plant Print Extrude

Warehouse Wait

Transport Move

1 day 2 days 1 day 1 day 1 day

6 days
Value addition process
Transformation process activities
Research result

Are customers willing to pay for these 95% non-

value added activities?
Non value added activities: Waste
Waste in operations
Waste in operations
Waste in operations
Value stream mapping (VSM): Flow chart + time frame +
value addition
➢ A value stream map is a visual representation of a company’s production
process — highlighting all of the critical activities and phases that contribute
to creating additional value
➢ It includes the flow diagram, quantifies input such as time and value addition
activities in every stage of production
Value stream mapping (VSM): Flow chart + time frame +
value addition
➢ Process or items are mapped as adding value or not adding value from the
customer’s standpoint and identifies and eliminates time and energy that
bring no value to the customer
➢ The purpose of VSM is to find and eliminate waste so you can maximize
value i.e., assist organization in lean manufacturing or processing
Value stream mapping process

➢ The first step in value stream mapping is to create a current state map
➢ This map can help identify waste such as delays, restrictions, inefficiencies,
and excess inventories
➢ These are then eliminated in the ideal state map, which gives the
organization a working plan to achieve lean efficiency
Value stream mapping: flow chart + time frame + value
addition
Value stream mapping: Value and non value addition

Value addition= 1/24*100=4.17%

Non value addition (Waste)= 95.8\3%
Service blue print
➢ Service blue print is a picture or map that accurately describes the service
system so that different people in providing can understand and deal with it
➢ It provides a way to break the service into logical components and to depict
the steps or tasks in the process, the means by which they are executed and
evidence of the service as consumer experiences it
➢ First introduced in 1984 by G. Lynn Shostack in the Harvard Business
Review
➢ Service blue print is always designed from the customer’s perspective
Service blueprint elements
➢ Customer actions: It includes steps, choices, activities and interactions that
customers perform in the process of purchasing, consuming and evaluating
the service
➢ Onstage contact employee actions: Steps and activities that the contact
employees perform that are visible to the customer
➢ Backstage contact employee actions: Steps and activities that occur behind
the scene to support onstage activities
➢ Support processes: Covers the internal services, steps and interactions that
take place to support the contact employees in delivering the service
➢ Physical evidence: Tangible elements associated with each step that has the
potential to influence customer
Service blueprint example: Express delivery
Truck Truck
Customer Action Packaging Packaging
Hand-held Hand-held
Uniform Uniform
Customer Customer Receive
Calls Gives Package
Package

Driver
Picks Deliver
On Stage Up Pkg. Package

Back Stage Customer

Service
Order

Airport Fly to
Dispatch Unload Load
Driver
Receives Sort Fly to
& On
& Loads Center Destination Sort
Support Process Load on Truck
Airplane

Sort
Packages
 Queues

We see queues every day in our life, whether it’s a line in government office, or
in the banks, queues of vehicles on the road, queues in petrol pumps, packets in
data networks, department shops line etc.
 Queuing theory
➢ Queuing theory is the mathematical study of the movement of people,
objects, or information through a waiting line
➢ Queues can occur whenever resources are limited
➢ Some queuing is tolerable in any business since a total absence of a queue
would suggest a costly overcapacity or underutilization or the resources
 Types of queue
➢ Single server single queue
➢ Multiple server multiple queue
➢ Multiple server single queue
➢ Single server multiple queue
Single server single queue
Multiple server multiple queue
Multiple server single queue
Single server multiple queue
Some queuing is tolerable in any business since a total absence of a queue
would suggest a costly overcapacity or underutilization of the resources
Types of cost in operating facility
➢ Serving cost (The cost of providing service to the customers which depends
on the number of servers)
➢ Serving cost= Number of servers * Server cost

➢ Waiting line cost (The cost related to not providing the service or customer
dissatisfaction due to frustration of waiting line, which happens due to low
number of servers)
➢ Total cost of operating facility (Serving cost + Waiting line cost)
Identify the given curve: Is it serving cost or
waiting line cost?
Identify the given curve: Is it serving cost or
waiting line cost?
The equilibrium point
Queuing theory: Serving cost, waiting line cost, equilibrium
point and total cost of operating facility
 Elements of queuing system
➢ Queuing theory is a branch of mathematics that studies how lines form, how
they function, and what flaws are there in the line and suggest how they can
be rectified
➢ In queuing theory, the process being studied is broken down into four distinct
elements
➢ The arrival process and the size of the customer population (finite or infinite)
➢ The queue and queuing discipline (FIFO, LIFO etc.)
➢ The number of servers and the service process
➢ The departure process
 Arrival process and the size of the customer
population

➢ The customer will arrive either from the finite or infinite population in the
queuing system
➢ The customer arrival will follow the Poisson distribution at a certain average
number per unit of time
 The queue and the queuing discipline

➢ There will be queue and queuing discipline of either FIFO or LIFO will be
followed (In human queue, FIFO system will be strictly followed)
➢ The customers may show three types behavior while joining the queue or
during the queue itself
➢ Balking customers
➢ Jockeying customers
➢ Reneging customers
 Balking customer

Balking occurs when potential customers arriving at a queueing system and

choose not to join the queue for getting service
 Jockeying customer

➢ Jockeying can be described as the movement of a waiting customer from one

queue to another (of shorter length or which appears to be moving faster,
etc.) in anticipation of a getting service fast.
➢ Happens only when there are multiple queues
Reneging customer

Reneging occurs when customers in a queueing system choose to leave the

system prior to receiving service
The number of servers and the service process

➢ The number of servers may depend on the capacity of the service provider
➢ The customer service will follow the exponential distribution at a certain
average number per unit of time
Application of queuing theory
➢ Queuing theory is a branch of operations research which is used to predict
➢ The average length of queue (Lq)
➢ The average length of queuing system(Ls)
➢ The average waiting time in the queue (Wq)
➢ The average waiting time in the queuing system (Ws)
➢ In order to decide the amount of resources required to provide any service
➢ The end result is a set of conclusions that aim to identify any flaws in the
system and more efficient and cost-effective workflow systems
Length of the queue

Length of the queue means the customers who are behind the customer who is
being served
Length of the queuing system

Length of the queuing system means the length of the queue plus the customer
who is being served
Waiting time in the queue

Waiting time in the queue means the average time the customer waits to get
served
Waiting time in the queuing system

Waiting time in the queuing system means the average time the customer waits
to get served plus average service time
Service rate is greater than arrival rate
Single server single queue infinite population model
➢ Though, there are various models of queuing theory, as per our syllabus we
will use single server single queue (infinite population model) to solve the
numerical
Assumptions of queuing theory
➢ The arrival rate of customers follows Poisson distribution i.e., arrival of
customers are independent and at constant rate
➢ The service rate of customers follows negative exponential distribution
➢ The service rate is greater than arrival rate (Initially lower but later in average
its higher)
➢ The FIFO queuing discipline will be strictly followed
➢ The calling population is infinite (The server assumes customers will come
from infinite population)
➢ There will be only one server
Notations used in queuing theory
➢ 𝜆 = Mean customer arrival rate or average number of customers’ arrival in
the queuing system per unit of time

1
➢ = Mean inter arrival time between customers (Average customer arrival
𝜆
time) or expected arrival rate
Notations used in queuing theory
➢ µ = Mean service rate or average number of customers completing service
per unit of time
1
➢ = Mean time taken to service a customer (Average service completion time)
µ
or expected rate of servicing
➢ Ls = Mean number of customers in the system/Length of the queuing system
➢ Lq = Mean number of customers in the queue/Length of the queue
➢ Ws = Mean waiting time in the system/queuing system
➢ Wq = Mean waiting time in the queue
Notations used in queuing theory
➢ 𝜌 𝑟ℎ𝑜 = Probability that the server is busy or probability of at least one
person in the system (Traffic intensity or server utilization factor)
➢ n = Number of customers in the system
➢ ϸ0 = Probability that the service facility is idle (Probability of zero customers
in the system)
➢ ϸn = Probability of n customers in the system
Equations used in queuing theory
1
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 µ 𝜆
➢ 𝜌 𝑟ℎ𝑜 = 1 =
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 µ
𝜆

➢ ϸ0 = 1-ρ(rho)
➢ ϸ1 (Probability of 1 customer in the system) = ρ1ϸ0
➢ ϸ2 (Probability of 2 customers in the system) = ρ2ϸ0
➢ ϸ3 (Probability of 3 customers in the system) = ρ3ϸ0
➢ ϸNo queue (Probability that there is no queue) = ϸ0 + ϸ1 (No one in system and
one in system)
➢ This is equal to probability that there is no customer in the system plus probability that
there is one customer in the system)
Equations used in queuing theory
➢ ϸ (≥1) (Probability that at least 1 customer in the system) = 1- ϸ0 = ρ
➢ ϸ (≥2) (Probability that at least 2 customers in the system) = 1- ϸ0 - ϸ1
➢ [Logic for this: ϸ (≥2) = ϸ2 + ϸ3 + ϸ4+ ………. ϸ∞ = 1 - ϸ0 - ϸ1] (ϸ2 + ϸ3 + ϸ4+ ……….
ϸ∞ =1)
𝜌
➢ 𝐿𝑠 =
1− 𝜌
➢ 𝐿𝑞 = 𝐿𝑠 − 𝜌
𝐿𝑠
➢ 𝑊𝑠 =
𝜆
𝐿𝑞
➢ 𝑊𝑞 =
𝜆
Queuing theory 1
1. Customers arrive at the first class ticket counter of a film hall at a rate of 12
per hour. There is one clerk serving the customer at a rate of 30 per hour.
Assuming the condition for the used single channel queuing model evaluate.
a. Probability that a counter is busy
b. Probability that there is no customer at the counter (remains idle)
c. The average time the counter remains busy every hour
d. The average idle time of the counter every time
e. Probability that a customer is being served and nobody is waiting/Probability
that there is 1 customer in the counter/system
f. Probability that there are 2 customers in the counter/system
g. Probability that there is no customer waiting to be served/Probability that there
is no queue
Queuing theory 2
2. A departmental store has a single cashier. During rush hours, customers
arrive at the rate of 20 customers per hour. The average number of customers
that can be processed by the cashier is 24 per hour. Assume that the conditions
for use of single channel queuing model apply. Calculate
a. Probability that the cashier is idle
b. Average number of customers in the queuing system
c. Average time a customer spends in the system
d. Average time a customer spends in the queue waiting for the service
Queuing theory 3
3. At a service station customers arrive in a Poisson distribution with an
average time of 5 minutes between arrivals. The service rate follows an
exponential pattern with average time taken to serve a client with 2
minutes. Assuming single channel model calculate:
a. Probability that a station is busy
b. Probability that there is no customer in the station
c. The average time the station remains busy every hour
d. The average idle time of the station every time
e. Probability that a customer is being served and nobody is waiting/Probability that there is 1
customer in the station/system
f. Probability that there are 2 customers in the system
g. Probability that there is no customer waiting to be served/Probability that there is no queue
h. The length of the waiting system/The average number of the customers in the waiting system
i. The length of the queue/The average number of the customers in the waiting queue
j. The average waiting time in the system
k. The average waiting time in the queue
Queuing theory 4
4. The data relating to dock shows that the average arrival rate of trucks is 2 per
hour. The average time to load a truck using 3 loaders is 20 minutes, so that
service rate is 3 per hour and assuming Poisson arrivals and exponential service
rate calculate:
a. Probability that a truck has to wait for service (Probability that a dock/server is busy)
b. Probability that a dock/server is idle
c. Probability that there is 1 truck in the system
d. Probability that there are 5 trucks in the system
e. Probability that there is no queue
f. Probability that there are at least 1 customer in the system
g. Probability that there are at least 2 customers in the system
h. Expected number of trucks in the system (Length of the system)
i. Expected number of trucks waiting to be served (Length of the queue)
j. Expected time that a truck waits in the system
k. Expected time that a truck waits in the line
Queuing theory 4
4. The data relating to dock shows that the average arrival rate of trucks is 2 per
hour. The average time to load a truck using 3 loaders is 20 minutes, so that
service rate is 3 per hour and assuming Poisson arrivals and exponential service
rate calculate:
a. Probability that a truck has to wait for service (Probability that a dock/server is busy)
b. Probability that a dock/server is idle
c. Probability that there is 1 truck in the system
d. Probability that there are 5 trucks in the system
e. Probability that there is no queue
f. Probability that there are at least 1 customer in the system
g. Probability that there are at least 2 customers in the system
h. Expected number of trucks in the system (Length of the system)
i. Expected number of trucks waiting to be served (Length of the queue)
j. Expected time that a truck waits in the system
k. Expected time that a truck waits in the line
Queuing theory 5
5. Customers come to a cinema counter at a rate of 30 per hour. The time taken
to issue has exponential distribution with a mean of 90 seconds. Find
a. Probability that a counter remains busy
b. The average time the counter remains busy every hour
c. Probability that a counter remains idle
d. The average idle time of the counter every time
e. Probability that there is 1 customer in the system
f. Probability that there are 3 customers in the system
g. Probability that there is no queue
h. Probability that there are at least 1 customer in the system
i. Probability that there are at least 3 customers in the system
j. Expected number of customers in the system (Length of the system)
k. Expected number of customers waiting to be served (Length of the queue)
l. Expected time that a customer waits in the system
m. Expected time that a customer waits in the line
Queuing theory 6
6. At a certain saloon, customers arrive in a Poisson distribution fashion with an
average time of 20 minutes between arrival. The interval between services at the
saloon follows exponential pattern and the mean time for the purpose comes to
15 minutes. Determine
a. The average length of the system in the saloon
b. The average length of the queue
c. The average time spent by a customer in the queue
d. The total time spent by a customer in the saloon
e. By how much should the flow of customers be increased to justify the employment of
another barber if the manager of the saloon is willing to do so, provided the customers
are to wait for 50 minutes for the service. (Use Wq =50 formula, calculate new λ and
subtract old lambda from new lambda and if necessary calculate percentage as well).